no title

Teachers' saucy Web profiles risk jobs

Hi-tech troubles

Teachers already have been tripped up by inappropriate use of cell phones, e-mails and Internet sites:

• The state Education Department used e-mails between a Hillsboro agriculture teacher and male students to revoke her teaching license in 2004. She wrote to the high-school students about their dates together and referenced their sexual encounters.

• Last year, the state suspended the license of a 53-year-old North Ridgeville teacher for inappropriate behavior with elementary-school children. He chatted and played games with them at night on neopets, a Web site named for cartoon characters especially popular with children ages 5-10.

• In February, the state reprimanded a former Pickerington Central High School teacher for becoming too close to a student. The girl's stepfather raised concerns because of the number of text messages sent between the two.

• Last month, a substitute teacher for Columbus City Schools resigned after The Dispatch wrote a story in September about his sexually explicit blog. The diary included graphic descriptions of his sexual encounters and musings about students.

More Articles

One says she's an animal in bed. Another likes to party -- a lot. A third says his mood is
"dirty."

All three purport to be Ohio teachers with profiles on MySpace.

These types of cases worry the Ohio Education Association, which has "strongly" encouraged
teachers against using MySpace, Facebook and other online social-networking sites.

The union sent teachers a memo Oct. 16, two days after
TheDispatch launched its investigation of educator misconduct, "The ABCs of
Betrayal." Union officials said they had been planning it for months.

"While this advice might seem extreme, the dangers of participating in these two sites outweigh
the benefits," the union memo said. "Because of the high standards placed on school employees and
the risk of job and career loss, the OEA recommends avoiding even the appearance of
impropriety."

The consequences of inappropriate Web postings could be serious for teachers, who might lose
their licenses or face other punishment, according to the director of the state office that handles
educator discipline.

An uncounted number of Ohio teachers have online profiles. Some share tame information about
their own children, their favorite book passages and their favorite music.

Others cross into "TMI" -- too much information.

Consider three profiles, found easily by searching MySpace for the words "Ohio" and
"teacher:"

• A 31-year-old teacher from a private school in Franklin County offers that, during the past
month, she has been married, gotten drunk, smoked cigarettes, taken drugs and gone
skinny-dipping.

• A 35-year-old Cleveland middle-school math teacher with a dirty mood had students as MySpace
friends. One who visited left this message: "I just thought I would stop by and show my greatest
teacher in the world some love. I miss you bunches!! High school sux! Hugz."

While it's possible that some profiles could be the work of malicious pranksters, the three
examples appear legitimate, with all types of personal and professional information, including full
resumes.

If those three postings are from teachers, they're inappropriate, said James I. Miller, the new
director of the Office of Professional Conduct in the Ohio Department of Education.

Even worse, he said, "It does sound like something that could be conduct unbecoming."

That's the broadly defined violation of educator behavior that can result in license
revocations, suspensions and written reprimands.

Teachers need to review what they're sharing online, Miller said. "It's their right to have it
up. But I'd make sure it's appropriate for my students to look at."

The union made a more blunt recommendation about the Web profiles: Get rid of them.

"The fact that a student can attempt to contact an OEA member who has a profile on these sites
lends itself to the possible interpretation of an improper relationship," a union flier told
teachers.

The legal-services director for the OEA, the state's largest teachers union, worries that
students will create "imposter" sites, pose as adults and engage in conversations with teachers, or
use online communication to make allegations later against educators.

"(There are a) lot of potential problems of false allegations, false pages, postings that have
absolutely nothing to do with the intention of the teachers," Rachelle Johnson said.

In the flier, the union also pointed out that anything on those sites can be used as evidence in
disciplinary hearings by districts and the state Education Department.

That's already happened.

Former teacher William Eiseman first found trouble at Delaware Hayes High School because of his
MySpace page. Many of his students communicated with Eiseman on his blog, which contained violent
and sexual references.

His profile, however, became the least of his worries. A month after the district admonished him
for his online activities, he was arrested for -- and later convicted of -- having sex with a
student. He remains in prison.

The Ohio Federation of Teachers, the state's smaller teachers union, has recognized the danger
that new technology poses. Last month, it asked the legislature to establish clear guidelines for
educators.

Columbus Education Association president Rhonda Johnson has taken the issue even further,
recommending that teachers avoid using online-dating sites such as Match.com.

"When you're a teacher," she said, "the bar is set a lot higher, and you have to be very
careful."